Automatic car braze



3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(Nb Model.)

o. W.-LANPHBR.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

Patented 118811882.

UNITED STATES- PATENT 7 OFFICE.

OHARLES'W. LANPHER, OF NORWIOH, NEW YORK.

`AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,398, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filed October 18, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, OnARLnsW.LANrHEa, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Norwich, in the county of Chenango and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Oar-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, suchvas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to automatically-actin g car-brakes; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to providea brake of such form as to adapt it to act automatically and independently upon each car of a train to which it is applied, without reference to theother cars of said train, when'the speed of the engine is checked, or when it is made to oppose the forward movement of the cars, and to be released by a tendency of the engine to run faster than the cars, such movements being produced by the inward and loutward movements of the draw-bars and without any other connections between the cars; second, to provide av novel form of governor to be used, in combination with a pawl and other mechanism, in such a manner that the application of the brakeswill occur when the speed of the car is about'one mile per hour, or any rated speed at which the draw-bars; and, third, to provide such a construction and combination of devices that the maximum braking force at any time shall be proportional to the combined weight of the car-body and its load, in order that the greatest braking force within the limits of sliding the wheels may be applied, and without causing them to s lide upon the'rails. I attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fignre 1 represents in elevation a portion of a car-body4 resting upon an ordinary truck which is equipped with my improved brake. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of a car-body, showing also an end view of the truck', together with a view of the governor and the mechanism for connecting it to the pawl, push-bar, and buffer. Fig.3 is a detached view, showing the method of constructing the governor and its position upon the car-axle. FigAis a side-elevation of the spider, to which the arms and weights of the governor are attached. Fig. 5 is a detached view, showing a modified form of the device used in applying the weight of the car-body and its load to the regulation of' the force with which the brakes are applied. Fig. Gis a plan View of the same; and Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively a sectional elevation and across-section, showing a modification of some of the parts, which are designed to show their application to iron trucks or to trucks of different construction from those shown in the previous igures.

Similar letters refer to similar parts lhroughout the several views. A

In constructing and applying this type of brake I employ substantially the devices shown in the drawings, as well as their combination and arrangement.

A represents one of the sills of a car-body, and B a cross-sill, upon which A rests.

Bis the upper transom, and B the lower transom, of the truck.

S S are ordinary brake-beams, with shoes attached, and suspended in any of the usual ways.

N is an ordinary axle, to which the governor is attached, as hereinafter described.

a a are two pieces of dat iron bolted to the rear end of the draw-bar, or fastened at any other convenient point thereof, and constitute a push-bar. The other end of this push-bar rests upon a bea-ring between the two arms, near the upper end of the hanging lever c.

Between the bars forming the push-bar a a is pivoted a pawl, b, moving freely about its pivot.' One end of this pawl, when in position to apply the brake, drops down in front of the IOO hanging lever c and butts against it. When not in position to apply the brake the `end of the'pawl is raised, as hereinafter described, so that it is clear of the hanging lever c, and does not come in contact therewith.

Pivoted to one end of the pawl b is a connecting-rod, 7c, which is also pivoted to one arm of a bell-crank lever, L", as shown, it being supported in position by an arm, k", projecting from and secured to the upper transombeam, B', of the truck-frame.

To the lower arm of the bell-crank lever k is pivoted a connecting-rod, Z, which is also pivoted to the upper arm of the rocker-lever in, which is supported in position by an arm projecting from and secured to the lower transom-beam, B, ofthe truck-frame. The end ot' the lower arm of the rocker-lever m is iiattened and broaden ed transversely, and curves slightly in a circle concentric with the circumference of the axle. This flat curved end hangs directl y in front ofthe heels of the governor-balls ppp/'12' as they revolve with the axle.

The hanging lever c is forked at its upper end from the place where the push-bar a a rests, and the two arms are secured at their upper extremities to the car-body, as shown in Fig. 2, its lower end being connected with the upper end of the brake-lever e by the rod d. The lower end of the brake-lever@ is connected with the lower end of the opposite brake-lever, g, by the rodj', and the upper end of brake-lever g is connected with the ordinary hand-brake windlass by a rod, i.

Intermediate between the point of connection of the rod r upon the brakelever g and the fulcrum thereof there is connected a rod or chain, it, which also connects with the end of the bent lever i. The other end of bent lever fi is pivoted in a casting, u, which is secured to the transom-beam B. Near the pivot or fulcrum of said lever is a projecting` bearing formed thereon, which is in contactwith an iron plate, w, the latter being secured to the cross-sill B of the car-bod y.

The governor-balls p p 1i 19 are pivoted in the arms to the collaro o, which latteris clamped upon the axle.

The action of the brake is as follows: When the car is at rest or is being drawn at a speed of less than one mile per hour, oi such other speed at which the governor may be constructed to commence acting` upon the brake, the govern or-ballsdrop down ward, as they revolve, below a horizontal line drawn through the center of the axle, as shown in the position of the lower balhp, in Fig. 3. As they continue to revolve and come above the center of the axle they are so shaped that they fall again of their own weight into the position of the upper ball, p, of Fig. 3. In this latter position of the balls the heels of their arms come in contact with and force outward the lower end of the rockerlever m, which movement is communicated by means of the rod l, bell-crank lever 7e', and rod 7c to the pawl b and turns it, so that it cannot comel into contact with the hanging lever c.

The draw-bar, and consequently the push-bar a a., may at such times be forced inward without producing any ei'ect upon the hanginglever c. When the car has attained a speed equal to that for which the governor is set the centrifugal force of the balls permits their falling back in to the position of the upper balhp, of Fig. 3, after having assumed the position of the lower balhp, (shown in same flgure,) and thus no contact is formed between the heels of the governor-balls and the rocker-lever, so that the pawl b is no longer held in the position as before described, but is allowed to fallin front of the hanging lever c. When the draw-bar, and consequently the push-bar a a, is forced inward by a retarded motion of the locomotive, the pawl b being in contact with the hanging lever c, the lever c moves backward about its fulcrum, and this mot-ionis communicated by means of the rod cl and brake-lever e to the irst brake-beam, S', which is moved until the brake-shoes attached to it are applied to the wheels. The movement of the brake-lever e is then communicated by means of the rod f and brake-lever g to the second `brake-beam, S, thereby applying its shoes to the wheels. The force with which the draw-bar is pressed inward is thus communicated to the wheels as a braking force. This braking force may be increased to such a degree that the weight of the car-body and its load, resting upon the beforementioned projection of the bent lever t', is no longer sufficient to hold said lever in its normal position. When this is the case the draw-bar is permitted to move farther inward, the motion being communicated through the hanging lever c, rod d, lever e, rod f, lever g, and rod h to the bent lever t', turning the bent IOO lever about its fulcrum in casting u, and so lifting the car-body and its load. This movement may continue until the draw-bar has been forced inward to the limiting position of its motion,thecar-bodycontinuingtoriseslightly, and it is evident that the braking force cannot exceed at any time that at which the carbody begins to rise.

The hanging lever c, the brake-levers e and f, and the bentlever i are so proportioned that the lever z will begin to move and the carbod y to rise when the force upon the wheels through .the brake-shoes is only slightly less than the force with which the wheels are pressed upon the rails, so that the greatest permissible braking force is obtained without sliding the wheels, regardless of the weight of the load in the car, and without regard to the greatest limit of the force with which the draw-bar is forced inward. Moreover, this device for limiting the braking force obviates the necessity of any springs whatever in the mechanism to avoid damage by sudden and heavy blows upon the draw-bar, as said bar may move to its limit with any force, and yet the wheels will not slide nor undue strain be brought upon the parts of the brake apparatus. It may be added that as the governor acts alone through the forces due to rotary motion and gravity no springs are used therein, and no springs enter in any way into the apparatus beyond the buffer-spring always used in cars.

It is not my intention to limit myself to the particular form of the devices employed, especially as regards those used for raising the carbody and its load at certain times, as these may be variously modifled, one example of such modification being shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings herewith presented, where it will be seen that a lever havingnpon it a series of inclined planes may be used and operated by the same mechanism that operates the bent lever shown in Fig. 1. It is also practicable to use a screw the thread of which is of so coarse a pitch as to produce the desired effect.

It is not my intention to limit my invention to the particular form of levers for communieating motion between the governor and the pawl b, as it is obvious that modifications may be made in the lever m and in bell-crank lever k', as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where it will be seen that the lever m is changed in form, and that a-straight leveris substituted for the bellcrank lever 7c', neither of such changes making anychange in the mode of operation of the device or in the principle, the only object being to facilitate its application to trucks of varying forms of construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in an automatically-acting brake applying and relieving mechanism,

of the push-bar a, pawl b, swinging lever c, rod d, lever e, rod f, lever g, connecting-rod h, bent lever i, or its equivalent, and a governor constructed substantially as shown and described, the parts being arranged substantially as set forth, and for the purposcspeciied.

2. In an automatic brake applying and releasing mechanism, the combination of a governor constructed substantially as herein described, a bent lever or equivalent device for raising the body of the car, and suitable intermediate mechanism, the operation being substantially as described.

3. The combination, in an automatically-acting brake mechanism, of a pivoted swinging push-bar carrying a pivoted pawl, a swinging pivoted lever for communicating the movements of the push-bar to the brakes, suitable levers and rods for operating the brake-shoes, and a rod, h, and lever i, the latter being pivoted to the.- transom-beam of the truck, the parts being arranged for joint operation, substantially as set forth, whereby provision is made for raising the car-body and its load, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof l afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W. LANPHER.

Witnesses:

HoLDRInGE OWEN, WM. J. MCGAW. 

